Big News!!!

I got the job that I have been just sure was perfect for me! I won't start until around the first of the year, but it is mine.

I feel this job is the perfect fit! It is for a nonprofit, part time (but a good amount of hours), provides benefits, is right by the boys' schools, and just makes me really happy. I applied for this job a long time ago and eventually decided that if I didn't get it, I'd keep goin' along as a mostly stay at home mom. I am certainly busy enough as is! But I knew this was the RIGHT job, at the RIGHT time. I did my best, prayed about it, and decided that if it were meant to be I'd get it.

I'm happy now!

Do NOT make these!

Unless, of course, you have:

a) Superhuman will power abilities

b) An ability to eat WAY too much

c) A party or some event where you can shove some of them off on others and not feel so guilty. Unless you elbow someone in the rib in an attempt to get them to drop the last one. Then you should feel guilty. Sort of.

Sweets & Beets chips

4 sweet potatoes

4 beets

3/4 liter olive oil

salt, cinnamon or ginger if desired as seasoning

Use a mandolin slicer to slice the sweets and beets very thin. Keep the veggies separate.

Heat olive oil in large pot on stove (I had it set to number 7 of 10). Once bubbling, drop in 1/3 of the sweet potato slices. Leave in oil for 4-6 minutes, until the bubbling subsides and well...until they look like chips! Remove from oil with slotted spoon and place on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with seasoning as desired (I actually preferred the unseasoned kind, but I may be a rare breed). Repeat with the sweet potatoes until all are done.

Once all sweet potatoes are done, repeat with the beets (since they are smaller you can do them in just 2 batches). Beets will need a little less cooking time, probably 3-5 minutes. Remove to a separate paper towel lined cookie sheet, season if desired.

Once chips are cooled (if you haven't eaten them all yet), toss them into a large bowl together. The purpose of keeping them separate this long and doing the sweets first is that done this way, the colors make a very pretty mix of bright orange and purple.

Enjoy! (And don't say I didn't warn you!)

Defend the institution of marriage!

Be a good spouse, no matter what your sexual preference is.

From leftovers to "none will be leftover!".

Here come the time of year where we have so many huge meals that we often wonder how we'll eat all the leftovers. Well, here is a way to eat leftover ham: make fake (and easy) chicken cordon blue!

Here we go:

Kid friendly, fairly healthy, fake Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut to have a pocket in the center

1/2 bulb fennel (you could use onion if you didn't have fresh fennel handy)

2 garlic cloves

2-3 slices leftover ham

2 sprigs fresh thyme

pepper

2-4 ounces lowfat ricotta cheese

1 egg, 1 egg white- whipped

3/4 cup breadcrumbs (our favorite are EnerG's gluten free bread crumbs)

1/4 cup ground flax (you can sub this for more breadcrumbs if you don't have it, but hopefully if you read my blog I've convinced you to keep them in your fridge by now!)

Preheat oven to 375. Chop fennel and garlic, sautee in olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Cube leftover ham, add to bowl with ricotta. Sprinkle with pepper and thyme. Add fennel mixture.

Stuff chicken with ricotta mixture, roll in egg, and then bread with breading mix. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Enjoy!

The veggie that ALWAYS requires seconds!

I have found the key. The key to yumminess, that is! Dusty, Skyler and I always want seconds of this dish. There is no such thing as "leftover" kale and pancetta. Alex...well, he's been in a not eating phase since I started making it, so no word on his opinion.

Kale & Pancetta

1 bunch fresh cale, chopped in 1" pieces

1 package cubed pancetta

1 leek or onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, slivered

olive oil

freshly grated pepper

Sautee garlic, pepper and leek in olive oil at medium heat for 2 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic! Add pancetta and cook 3-5 more minutes.

Add kale, sprinkle with more olive oil and cover for 5-10 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes.

Remove lid and cook for 2-3 more minutes while stirring frequently.

Skyler just called to me from bed and said "MOOOOOM, I'm still hungry even after dinner. Thinking he was trying to scam some ice cream (which he had on the way down the mountain after a day of snowboarding), I asked what he wanted. Imagine my delight when he asked if we had any kale left!

My Christmas goal: $100 for the boys!

So here is my Christmas goal this year: Spend $100 on the boys, for presents from Dusty and I. Both of them- so, $50 each. This doesn't include "Santa gifts", which will vary depending on what they need and how work goes.

I've gotta say...I am kicking butt! Here is the breakdown:

$100 total

-$30 for Crocs. Each boy got 1 pair of Crocs that came with 3 decorative charms, from KidSteals.

-$20 for Wii games. They were buy 2, get 1 free at Target. When Sky saved up his money to buy a game, I offered to pay while he played. Then I picked up 2 games, each $20, got one free- and scored 2 for $20. Sky wasn't any the wiser, as the salesman packaged them separately and Sky didn't check the receipt.

-$13 for PJ's. The Disney Store online today is selling kid's pajama's for $5 each, with $2.95 shipping. Both of the boys get Power Ranger PJs, and I only spent $13!

So there we have it! I've got $37 left and the boys each have 3 awesome presents. Woo hoo! This Christmas, I'm bargain shopping and getting creative.

So much fun!

Dusty and I had such a great time last night. I threw him what SHOULD have been a surprise party. When the day before, he was getting mad because he knew I was hiding something, I wound up spilling the beans in the interest of having my husband speak to me. As it turned out, that was just fine. Surprise or not, it was amazing seeing so many friends and just getting to let loose!

I made an appetizer which is now going on my list of sure-fire things to make. It doesn't have a name...maybe I'll call them parmesan stacks? Yeah, that sounds good. So here goes:

Parmesan Stacks

1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan

salt

freshly ground pepper

paprika

2-3 tomatoes

olive oil

1/4 cup chopped, fresh parsley

1 package prosciutto

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On an oiled baking pan, place 1/4 inch thick tomato slices. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with freshly grated pepper.

On a broiling rack, lay prosciutto out after spraying the pan with cooking spray. Put in the oven for 7--9 minutes, until prosciutto is crisp.

Reduce heat to 400 degrees. On an oiled cookie sheet, make little piles of freshly grated parmesan (about the size of a silver dollar). Sprinkles the piles with a little salt, pepper and paprika. Bake for 3-5 minutes- until melted and browned. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.

After tomatoes have cooled, cut into quarters and lay on a plate lined with paper towels. Pat the excess oil and moisture from the tomatoes.

Put cooled parmesan crisps on serving platter. Stack with tomatoes, then chopped fresh parley, and finally the crisp prosciutto. Yum-O!

This got great reviews at my party last night and is now a staple on my go-to list!